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| Saed El-Din Ibrahim: seven years imprisonment in Egypt | Date: 23-05-2001 |
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Letter to the EU concerning the sentencing of Dr. Saed El-Din Ibrahim to seven years imprisonment in Egypt. EU Foreign Ministers EU High Representative for CFSP European Commissioner Chris Patten Your Excellency The Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Network hereby appeals to the EU institutions to take a firm public stand against the sentencing of Dr. Saed El-Din Ibrahim, Director of the Ibn Khaldun Centre for Developmental Studies, and 21 staff members, following a trial that failed to meet international standards, on 21 May 2001. Dr. Ibrahim and his staff members were sentenced to between one and seven years imprisonment by the Supreme State Security Court on the basis of charges of, among others, disseminating information harmful to Egypt’s reputation and receiving foreign funding without authorisation from the authorities1. The EMHRN believes that the verdict of Dr. Ibrahim is but the latest development in an attempt by the Egyptian authorities to muzzle civil society in Egypt. The arrest and the court procedures as well as the fact that despite the civilian character of the trial the hearings have been referred to the State Security Court under Emergency Laws has had a chilling effect on civil society which runs counter to the spirit of the Barcelona Declaration highlighting the role of civil society in the promotion of peace, stability and prosperity in the Euro-Mediterranean region. Recalling the ‘EU Common Strategy on the Mediterranean’ in which it is stressed that the EU will work with its Mediterranean partners to promote and protect all human rights and fundamental freedoms; Recalling article 2 of the EU-Egypt Association Agreement, which states that the relationship between the partners should be based on respect for international human rights principles; The EMHRN calls on the EU to: immediately take a firm public stand against the sentencing of Dr. Ibrahim and his staff members express its commitment to continue supporting Egyptian civil society’s NGOs urge the Egyptian government to stop its intimidation of civil society and respect its commitments to international human rights standards. Background: Dr. Saed El-Din Ibrahim, Director of the Ibn Khaldun Centre for Developmental Studies, and seven staff members were arrested on 30 June 2000 and the office of the Ibn Khaldun Centre closed. The detention of 15 days without charge was extended, reaching a total of 45 days before Dr.Ibrahim was released. The trial against Dr. Ibrahim and 27 others (staff members from the Ibn Khaldun Centre and the Egyptian Women Voters’ Support Centre) started on 18 November 2000, and both the pre-trial and the trial proceedings have failed to meet international standards of fair trial. Witnesses have been interrogated without the presence of a lawyer and the defendants do not have the right to appeal the verdict before a higher court on the substance of their case. On behalf of the EMHRN, Abdelaziz Bennani, President of the EMHRN Marc Schade-Poulsen, Executive Director, Notes: (1) According to Military Decree no 4/1992, which carries a minimum of seven years’ imprisonment |
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